


Toon Four

by blueaerin



Category: Ender's Game - All Media Types, Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ender's Game Fusion, Is it flying or falling, Kaladin has no idea what's going on, Kaladin isn't 100 percent on how zippers work, Kholin Army, Let's hear it for bridge four, No stormlight no problem, Sadeas is a bad guy even in space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 05:27:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13427757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueaerin/pseuds/blueaerin
Summary: Kaladin plays a different sort of war game.





	Toon Four

He woke up to Dalinar shouting. 

“Toon Four! Hurry up. Flash suits on and out the door in the next thirty seconds!” 

Kaladin jumped out of bed, suddenly alert and ready, reaching for a spear that didn’t exist. All around him he saw the men of bridge four hurriedly pulling on silver suits that glinted strangely in the too-steady lights, those who were already dressed running towards the door. He felt the same tension in the air as before a bridge run.

 _Where in creation was he?_

Realizing belatedly that he was naked, Kaladin let out a grunt that might have been a laugh; it seemed fitting that he'd noticed the lack of a spear before he'd noticed the lack of clothes. He saw there was clothing for him at the foot of his bed and began pulling it on, shivering a little as the unfamiliar fabric slid over his body. 

_By the Stormfather this was strange. Could this be one of Dalinar’s visions? One that he just happened to be having with most of Bridge Four?_  
He looked around the large room as he fumbled with the pull on his suit. There were probably forty other men in the room, including other former bridge crews as well as Adolin and members of the cobalt guard. They were all dressing hurriedly in the same reflective suits. Kaladin took a deep breath of the air to steady himself and grimaced. Was it possible for a vision to smell so bad? 

“Kaladin?” Sigzil was looking at him strangely as he fumbled with the pull on his suit. “Are you having trouble with your flash suit?” 

“Storming lighteyes and their storming games,” snapped Moash, easily pulling his suit closed. “We fight the same battle over and over. Give me some Buggers to fight.”

“You should not call them that,” corrected Sigzil. “They are Formics.” 

“You some sort of Bugger lover? I’ll storming call them what I storming want,” Moash said, stalking towards the door 

“Toons form up!” Dalinar shouted again and the chaotic room emptied rapidly at his command. Kaladin struggled for another moment and then pulled his suit closed. He was the last one out, following the stragglers into a windowless corridor. The lights above him burned more steadily even than stormlight and the metal walls of the corridor showed a distinct curve at either end as they bent out of sight. 

He took a step, and then another. He felt a little lighter, almost as if he'd been lashed slightly upward. But when he breathed in, reaching for stormlight, he found none.  
They jogged for several minutes; only when the corridor ahead of them split did Kaladin realize they had been following a series of lights along the wall: blue, blue, white. The other branch showed a different pattern: green, green, white. Sadeas. He felt a familiar anger rise in him; his hatred of Sadeas ran too deep to be altered by any dream or vision. 

They stopped, suddenly, and Kaladin saw Adolin pushing through the crowd of soldiers towards him. 

“Toon Four” he said, acknowledging the men behind Kaladin and then turning and grabbing his arm. “Where have you been?” he hissed, dragging Kaladin to the front. “You want to get us all iced for missing a battle, neh?” Kaladin shook his head, which seemed to be the response Adolin was looking for, because he kept talking.

“Sadeas has been coming out fast,” Adolin continued, walking Kaladin towards a large metal door with a seam down the middle. “And Dalinar keeps insisting that we wait and size things up. It’s putting us at a disadvantage. Dalinar finally agreed to let toon jump right away--I think it should be yours.” 

“I don’t--”

“Yes or no, _eemo_?” 

“I’m not an--,” Kaladin said, trailing off. He had no idea what it meant, but he knew that tone of voice. “We’ll do it,” he said, not sure what he’d just committed his men to. “What’s the battlefield like?” Adolin looked at him like he’d lost his mind. 

“You hit your head or something, Stormblessed?” 

The doors in front of them began sliding open, revealing a huge open space. Kaladin could see large objects scattered randomly throughout it, apparently floating in the air. There was a large block of objects about halfway across the space that hid whatever was happening directly across from them. 

“Look lively!” Dalinar shouted as the doors began sliding back. “Form up! Toon Four! Let’s give them something to talk about.” The crews jumped into tight lines, all facing the now open door and the men of bridge four ran forward. Kaladin saw them hesitate as they approached the open door, clearly waiting for him. 

“Moash. Teft. Take us out,” he said and then watched in amazement as the men leapt for the door, grabbing handles that he hadn’t previously noticed and began to fly. They soared towards the blocks in the middle, landing deftly and spreading out across the obstacle, clearly trying to get a good look at the other side.  
Adolin grabbed his arm and said something but Kaladin shook him off, jumping the handles and flinging himself into the room beyond.

His left hand slipped as he let go and suddenly he was spinning. He moved his arms and legs to try and right himself, but he felt no resistance. He reached inside, straining for any drop of stormlight but he couldn’t find any. Kaladin’s leap had been strong enough that he fell up quickly, skimming along the wall towards the ceiling, the door to the corridor spinning in and out of view below him, what was up and what was down changing with every rotation. Near the ceiling he spotted another handle and with a few frantic hand movements managed to spin his body enough that he could grab it. He’d been going too fast though, and his body weight jerked his arms and slammed him into the wall. 

_Damnation_. 

He could see the other door from here, see how Sadeas’ troops were using the blocks in the middle to cover their movements. Groups of men were starting to move towards the blocks where his men were. Gripping the handle, Kaladin bared his teeth in a snarl and holding himself steady, launched back to the obstacles in the middle. This is just like the chasms he thought as he spiraled through the air. I just have to change my orientation. This time he landed softly and Teft reached out an arm to steady him. 

“They’re coming,” Kaladin said. “And fast. At least a whole...toon.” He saw Moash signal back to Dalinar and he saw the rest of the Kholin army start deploying. 

“If they take this spot we’ll never get out of the door,” Teft growled. 

“Then we hold it,” Moash said.

“No,” Kaladin shook his head, and pulled himself up slightly to see over the edge. His perspective shifted and as he peered over the edge he could see Sadeas’ men falling towards their position like hail. It looked overwhelming. He closed his eyes. _What had Adolin said to him just as he’d jumped?_ Opening them again, Kaladin forced himself into a new orientation. 

Sadeas’ men weren’t falling. They were floating up towards them. Kaladin and bridge four could drop off the edge of this barrier and hit them hard. That would give Dalinar enough time to get into position. 

“We’re going over,” Kaladin declared and his men moved immediately into position. Kaladin didn’t know where in creation he was, but he knew battle in all its forms. He could do this.

Looking down the line of men, ready for his signal, Kaladin grinned, remembering what Adolin had said. 

“Remember!” he shouted, “Sadeas’ gate is down!” 

And with that, Toon Four launched themselves into open air, falling towards Sadeas’ army like an avenging rain.

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes I stay up too late and think crazy thoughts.


End file.
